Apparatus for feeding finely-divided fuel.



c. LONGENECKER.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDFNG FINELY DIVIDED FUEL.

1%. APPLICATION FILED APR.Z9| I914.

Patented July 13, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. LONGENECKER. APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FINELY DIVIDED FUEL.

APPLlCATlON FILED APR.29,1914. Patented July 13, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2' l earns QHAELES LONGENECKER, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOE T0 QUIGLEY FURNACE t'lEOUNDRY COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF INLASSACHUSETTS.

ilPlPARATUS FOR FEEDING FINELY-DIVIDEI) FUEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jully 1a.1o15.

Application filed. April 29, 1914. Serial No. 835,286. 6

ments in Apparatus for. Feeding Finely- Divided Fuel, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for feeding pulverized coal or other finely divided fuel to furnaces and is more particularly designed to widen the scope of con trol of the quantity of fuel which can be so fed to a furnace through one inlet opening.

In certain types of furnaces it is essential that all the fuel to be fed to them shall be delivered through one opening and as the fuel controllers now used with pulverized fuel have a limited range of adjustment of the quantity of fuel delivered by them.

and also a limited capacity, it has heretofore been difficult if not impossible, to use pulverized fuel on furnaces of this type, which, when running at the maximum capacity re quire a supply of fuel in excess of the capacity of one controller or feeding device. lit is not permissible in cases of this kind as before stated, to connect two or more separate fuel controllers to the one furnace through separate fuel inlets, and it has been difficult if not imposible to so connect two or more separate fuel controllers that they may opefate singly or in conjunction and always deliver the fuel in a proper manner to the furnace. I have overcome this difficulty by my invention and improved construction, the best embodiment of which at present known to me is illustrated in the accompanying two sheets of drawings in which- Figure 1, is aplan view of theapparatus with parts broken away, the; fuel hoppers removed and showing aportion of the furnace wall in cross section; Fig. 2 is a central, vertical, longitudinal section on line 2, 2, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3, is a vertical cross section on line 3, 3, of Fig. 1.

Throughout the drawings like reference characters indicate like parts.

1, represents a portion ofthe furnace wall having fuel inlet 2. A fp'el discharge conduit 3, ited to deliver a current of air carrying nnely divided fuel in suspension,

State of Massachusetts, have in-' vented certain new and useful Improvepasses through said inlet. This discharge conduit 3, preferably has a cylindrical portion 16, of larger diameter connected to the discharge end of the conduit by a tapering portion 17. The inlet end of the cylindrical portion 16, of this conduit has an end wall orcover 23, with a central opening through which passes the supplemental air conduit 4;

This supplemental air conduit is preferably arranged concentrically with the fuel oils charge conduit and preferably has a tapered nozzle portion 24, which extends through the cylindrlcal portion 16, of the discharge conduit.

19, represents a portion of a water jacket for the fuel discharge conduit.

5, 5, represent two fuel controllers of the general type shown in U. S. Patent No.

784,307, to J. V. Culliney, dated March 7,

1905, which are separately connected to the fuel discharge conduit 3, by delivery pipes or conduits 14, 14. As shown, these conduits extend to inlet openings in the cylindrical walls of the portion 16, of the fuel discharge conduit andare adapted to deliver their contents into the annular mixing chamber 15, formed between the walls 16, of the fuel discharge conduit 3, and the exterior of the supplemental air conduit section 24, in a direction substantially tangential tosaid walls. The construction of the fuel controllers 5, 5, constitutes no part of my invention, but I will briefly describe their various parts as follows: 6, represents a hopper' for the receipt and holding of bodies of finely pulverized coal, which is' set on each fuel controller when in operation. 7, 7 are electric motors which. drive conveyer screws 9, 9, through gearing concealed in the housings 8, 8. These conveyer screws force regulated quantities of pulverized coal from. the bottom of each hopper out over the vertical shafts Or compartments 12, 12, through which the pulverized coal.

falls. 13, 13, are compressed air supply tubes which enter the controllers at one side of the vertical compartments 12, 12, and the currents of air forced through the same pass out by the oppositely disposed fuel deivery tubes-14, .14, carrying with them as much of the finely divided fuel as they can entrain. The surplus of the pulverized coal falls to the bottom of the compartments 12,

v 12, from which .itis returned by the return conveyer screws 10, 10, to the conveyor screws 9, 9. The screws 10, are driven from the screws 9, by gearing 11, 11.

Such being the construction of the apparatus, the operation is as follows: The motors being set in operation the conveyer screws deliver a regulated amount of pulverized coal to the upper ends of the vertical compartments 12, 12, through which the coal falls as abovedescribed, and the regulated amount of compressed air. being supplied through tubes 13, 13, the desired quantity.

of this falling fuel is diverted from its downward path and blown through the delivery tubes 14, 14, to the annular'mixing chamber 15. Here the fuel and air are given a spiral motion through said annular mixing chamber out into the tapered portion 17, of the' fuel discharge conduit and then through its discharge end into the furnace through the inlet 2.- With this is mixed the necessary amount of supplemental air detically impossible to extend this regulation beyond a one hundred per cent. variation of the minimum capacity. That is to say,if the minimum capacity of onefuel controller is 400 pounds, per hour, the maximum capacity cannot be more than 800 pounds per hour in practice. As a large puddling furnace may require as much as 1600 pounds of'coal, per hour, at some times, and yet require as little as 400 pounds per hour at other times, it is evident that one controller cannot supply such a furnace at all times, but when my invention is used both controllers may be operated when the require ments of the furnace are between 800 and 1600 pounds of fuel per .hour and one of these controllers shut down when the consumption of the furnace drops below 800 pounds per hour. Whether one or both of the controllers areoperating the compressed air and fuel delivered from either or both are so taken care of in the annular mixing chamber 15, that there isno variation in the uniform distribution of the fuel through the volugne of air supplied either from the controllers or from the supplemental air conduit and there is nointerference with the evenoperation of theffurnaceat any rate of fuel supply. LThisf'even' mixture of air and fuel. is largelyduetothe spirally whirling motion set up iifiniixing chamber 15.

While I have sh oitn only two fuel controllers connected up to the discharge conduit, it is evident/that 'a plurality of such controllers could be employed all connected to the dischargeconduit in a similar manner and delivering the1r respectlve fuel supplies into the mixing chamber 15, in a direction substantially tangential to the walls thereof without in any way interfering with I the action of one another or disturbing the uniformity of the fuel and air mixture delivered to the furnace and without creating any ,eddies in the. passageways which might produce a deposit of the fuel such as would clog up the apparatus.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. In an apparatus for feeding finely di;

vided fuel, the combination of a -fuel discharge conduit having a substantially 011'- cular interior cross section at and near tllfig" fuel inlet thereto, two fuel controllers, and separate fuel delivery conduits extending from thesaid controller'sand discharging into the discharge conduit along lines approximately tangential to the circular walls of said conduit.

2. In an apparatus for feeding finely divided fuel, the combination of a fuel discharge conduit having a substantially circular interior cross sectlon at and near its inlet end, and two inlet openings through its walls near said inlet end, a cover for said inlet end provided with a central opening, a

supplemental air conduit entering the discharge conduit through said central opening and projecting into the same beyond the before mentioned inlet openings, and means for *delivering currents of compressed air and suspended fuel through said inlets in directions substantially tangential to the interior walls of the discharge conduit.

3. In an apparatus for feeding finely di vided fuel, the combination of a fuel discharge conduit havin lar interior cross sectlon at and near its inlet end, and two inlet openings through its walls near said inlet end, a cover for said inlet end provided with a central opening, a

supplemental air conduit entering the discharge conduit through said central opening and projecting into the same beyond the before mentioned inlet openings, fuel delivery tubes connecting to said inlet openings and discharging into the annular chamber formed between the exterior wall of the supplemental air conduit and the interior wall of the discharge conduit on lines substantially tangential to said walls, and separate fuel controllers connected one to each of the before mentioned fuel delivery tubes. 4. In an apparatus for feeding finely divided fuel, the-combination with a discharge conduit of substantially circular interior cross section having an opening at its outer 125 end and providedwith a second opening in its circular wall and a conduit connected thereto extending substantially tangentially to said circular wall, of a fuel delivery connection to said last mentloned conduit, means a substantially circu- 101i masses for delivering therethrough a current of air mixed with finely divided fuel, and a supplemental air conduit connected to the outer end of the discharge conduit and extending thereinto beyond the fuel inlet opening.

5 In an apparatus for feeding finely divided fuel, the combination with a discharge conduit of substantially circular interior cross section having an opening at its outer end and provided with a second opening in its circular Wall and a conduit connected thereto extending substantially tangentially to said circular Wall, of a fuel delivery connection to said last mentioned conduit, means for delivering therethrough a current of air mixed with finely divided fuel, and a supplemental air conduit connected to the outer end of the discharge conduit and extending thereinto beyond the fuel inlet opening, said supplemental air conduit terminating in a tapering nozzle.

6. A device for feeding finely divided fuel comprising in combination, a discharge conduit of circular cross section having a topics of. this patent may be obtained tor chi tapering portion nearthe discharge end and a cylindrical portion at and near the inlet end, a cover for the inlet end having a central circular opening, a supplemental air conduit having a tapering nozzle entering said opening and extending through the oylindrical portion of the discharge conduit, and two fuel delivery tubes passing through the cylindrical Walls of the discharge conduit in directions substantially tangential thereto.

7. In an apparatus for feeding finely divided fuel, the combination with a. discharge conduit adapted to be connected. with a furnace, of a supplemental air supply conduit connected to the discharge conduit, and two fuel controllers adapted to deliver currents of compressed air with finely divided fuel suspended therein, having separate connections to said discharge conduit '1' arranged tangentially thereto.

CHARLES LONGENECKER. Witnesses: A. PARKER-SMITH,

M. G. Cmiiironn.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner or. Washington, 10. (0. 

